Page 4-The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, November 30, 1989
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Survivor recognizes pre-war photo
Prof. Salo Baron
a
NEW YORK (JTAy-
Prof. Salo Wittmayer Baron, who. was acclaimed by many as the greatest Jewish historian of the 20th century, died Saturday of congestive heart failure. He was 94.
Baron taught at Columbia University from 1930 until his retirement in 1963.
In April 1961, Baron testified at the Jerusalem trial of Adolf Eichmann about anti-Semitism and how the Nazis decimated European ■ Jewry.
~; He cited as an'e.xample ..the city.of his birth.iTar-now. now in Poland, where 20^000 JeuW.lived before the Second World War.'At the end of the war. no more than. 20; sur\'ivcd. Baron lost his mother and a sister in the Holocaust.,; ...Baron . was : known throughout the academic world for his scholarship and erudition.- He spoke 20 lariguages and could lecture in five, without notes.
His monumental work, A Social and Religious History of the Jews, began as a lecture series and grew initially into a broad survey of Jewish history, three volumes of which were published in 1937..
Eventually, 18 volumes were published. He was: working bri a l?th at his
... Baron was born in 1895. -in Tarnbw, then part of the. Austro-Hungarian Empire. Hi.s: family, wealthy, edu-eated; aBd-of a prestigious. rabbinic 1 ine.._was_part of the Jewish aristocracy of Galicia.
\. Baron was a precocious ' child, learning chess^it.the age of three and-Writing poetry in Hebrew at 12. As a young, man, he pursued rabbinic studies and' was ordained by the Jewi.sh" Theological Seminary in Vienna in 1920.
He! also, earned three doctorates   from the Uni V e r sity- o f' V i e n n a: 1 n philosophy,    political . science and law. ,
^"^fter teaching at the Jewish Teachers College in Vienna, hs„was invited to
>ew York by ^Rabbi Stephen Wise in 1926 to teach at the-Je\vish Institute of' Religion. He began to teach at Columbia in 193i).
; In the 1920s. BaronJvad been invited to Breslau to take over the position of Prof. Heinrich GraetZj. who had already writtenjj history of -the Jews! He refusedv "-7^ r
"He"Was the most put-standing historian of our generation," Leon Feld-. man, professor of Hebraic studies at Rutgers Univer-' sityV told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency;
"Baron combined a vast knowledge and per-.spective of Jewish and general history, indicat-. irig that Jews reacted and responded to their environment, and never , lived in a vacuum," said. Feldman, who edited two "jubilee volumes" of Baron's articles. . ; Baron-hou-se-d-;his-Jbdoks in-an. enormous barn.at a . sunimer-home in -Canaan, Conn.. TwQ years ago. - he . sold those bcKiks to Stanford    Universitv for $800,000. , \:   ' • ..
Baron was. a founder of several institutions of Jewish interest. Some 50 years ago, he foimded the Ameri-ciui Academy - for Jewish . Research, and w-as its president until a fewyears
ago: ;.'..„.,.„.,..._,., "., ■■ . .With philosopher Morris Raphael Cohen, he founded .iri 1934 the Conference on Jewish Social Studies, which from -1939 published the Journal of Jewish So;-. cial Studies. Baron re-inained conference president and journal, editor for half a century until; his death.
He also was instriimenr tal in founding the Jewish, Cultural Reconstruction, which was organized for the purpose.of seeiiiiig out piirloined Judaica to restore it to its rightful owner or distribute it to Jewish institutions for higher, learning throughout the world.
At his death, he was gathering the material for Volume 19 of his; Social -and Religious HistQry,._,,Qf.... -the Jews, whose fdrrnat he changed in I954,;jaway from the time-line concept to one that included both ' ^horizontal and, vertical conception.of Jewish histo-ry/J. Feldqian said.
Baroin also was working ori^jhis autobiography, which he did hot finish.
Rolf Weglein. a native of G.ennany now living in Los Angeles, was in Toronto last sumnier.visiting one of his cousins. By chance, he
•fead Sheldon Kirshner's story about Ichenhausen
" a small town in Wcst_Ger-many where he lived be-
: fore ."the Second World
',:\Var.' '. ■ 1 He als() noticed himself in an old photograph iri. the body of Kirshner's article "the little boy with the, page boy haircut:"
: From his home in Cali-. forhia. Weglein. 69. writes;
"I came-to HollyWood/l;. Lxfs'^Ahgeles in:jl937 to live .with_ the faiiiily of my. mother's sister. Two years in the Army Air Force," mostly in England, permitted 'hie to obtain., my Masters degree at The" California  Institute of technology in Pasadena. I've been a research engineer in the aerospace industry for the past 35 years and have at times, becali-saeof my published work, been visiting scientist at the University of Qjcford, England and in Besancon,-. France.
"One  rca.son for 'the Canadian trip \^as my involvement in the IEEE flnr .stitutc of- Electrical^ and Electronic Etigjineers) Ditrasonics symposium, held in Montreal .i.I. expect to retire this year to pursue   some specia research interests, probably at some university, and to write a family history. ' "On my mother's side, we have a history of 12
. generations (of Gerstles). Many of these who died prior to the.Holocau.st peri-! od are buried; in the old cemetery in Ichcnhau.sen. A distant cousin of thar side. ' Leopold ;Kramer. mentioned in your story, lives in South Porcupine, Ont. We used to call him Poldi. Another cousin;" from whose house in Toronto I pfioned you, the
■"sole "survivor his immediate^ family, was interned in Canada, after war broke out in Europe;
As Kirshner pointed out in his piece (July 13), there is a synagogue in Ichenhausen — but iio Jews.
the town, as the Nazis would have put it, is Judenrem. . i
ein family in Ichenhausen, circa 1924rRolf is the child on the far right.
came increase
in
0
MONTREAL -
Canadians will pay almost 30 per cent more to plant a t ree i n IsraeI as 0f -Jan: 1. when the price will climb froni $7 to $9. the Jewish National Fund of Canada recently, announced.-
The decision to raise the price of treies was
taken In light of "dramat-icall}" rising cost.s for forest development and for rieistoring areas destroyed Jj^ a spate of fires Jinked toacts of arson by Arabs, the Organization said.
; JN.F ; said the de'cTsiori'' was made- "following a thorough: investigation of the,situation." and-'iirg doni;>fs — "ip view of t,he
urgent circuriistances"" to cpnsiderniaking gifts of two trees, "signifying the
^ time-hpnored Jewish tradition of 'chai' (18)." . .
- Trees sold in, .schools during' the annual: Tu B^Sheval tree-planting campa ign i h February w 111 remain at $7 so students.;;
who often buy trees with allowance money. "w'iJI bb encouraged to continue their.supp'ort of JNF and their understanding of how important tree-planting is for the State of Israel:" , For more information the public should contact its local:JNF office.'
JERUSALEIVl (JTA)
^ A group of disabled youths from .Muenster. West . Ge rmany. pl an t ed:: trees, recently: at a Jewi.sh National, Fund centre in the Jerusalem hills.. ::7-Accprding to a spokes.-' hiah!; thev wanted''(P e.x-
;press by their gesture■ a. desire for deeper under-. standing between the Ger-. man and Jewish people.
The visitors toured the. Yad Vasheni_; Holocaust roemoriaj before the.tre^-planting.session.
Rolf Weglein
Eva Finkelstein S
On Thursday, November 23, 1989 at her home. Eva Finkelstein, beloved wife of the late Isadore Finkelstein, dear sister of Morris Hershriian & Percy Dol-gin, sister-in-law lof.; Annie. & .}ot; Iseman, Zalrlian & Rose Finkelstein, beloved aunt otoichaer   Caryn Dolgin, Ricki & Jerry Kae 11, Davici-rse^m Hefbie & Glenna- Finkelsteirf^^T^il^ '& Helen Giila, Annie;& Sol Kirshenbaum, Ernie & Sally Finkelstein, Rhoda &, Jack Lindzon and Channa & Stanley Allen, great-aunt of Jeffrey, Jordan, Shane,; Adam, Matthew and Amy. ,
Services were held at Benjarnin's Park Memorial, Sunday, November 26, 1989.
Memorial donations to Pioneer ^omen - Adopt-A-Ghild.
...The staff ;ofr:'v' The Gan^
would like to extend its deepest condolences to
Janice Arnold
upon the passing of her beloved mother..
IRENE E.
SOUTH AFRICAN BOARD OF JEWISH EDUCATION
npnjJK 01173 TTin'n lunn lyv
APPLICATIONS ARE INVITED FOR THE POSITION OF PRINCIPAL AT THE KING DAVID PRIMARY SCHOOL, VICTORY PARK, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
The applicant should be a dynamic Jewish Educator who would set educational standards, guide and motivate teachers, administer;ahd supervise the implementation of all educational and other school activities.,' ■ —-.-i V 'V;-The incumbent should hold suitable professional and academic q.palifi-'cations, have at least seven years experience in the field of education, identify strongly with matters Jewishr-and be prepared to promote the educaitional ideals of the South African-Board of Jewish Education.
Duties to commence at the beginning of the fourth term 1990 on 15 October 1990^alary and conditipnsj negotiable. o
Applications in writinQ;:tO'geltter Testimonials and Cur-
riculum Vitae, should be submitted by 31 December 1989, and addressed to: The Director, South-Affrcaii Board of Jewish Education, P.O. Box 46204, Orange Grove 2119, Johannesburg, South Africa.^